


Sophie's Boyfriend

by ab2fsycho



Series: Why is Tea Always Gone [7]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M, Some bullying, if you don't like bullying, please be wary, some cutesies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 06:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ab2fsycho/pseuds/ab2fsycho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a trip outside of the lair, Rin encounters Sophie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sophie's Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shinku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinku/gifts).



> Because she was the one who planted the plot bunny, I gift to Shinku.

“What are we doing?”

“Having a little fun! I’m gonna show you one of the perks of being me.”

Onna managed to keep pace with Jack as they glided on the wind. They stopped in the woods on the outskirts of what Onna had come to recognize as Jack’s town. It had a name: Burgess. But to Onna, it was just Jack’s. Balancing on the branches of an oak, she looked up at the youngest Guardian. He was two branches above her. She asked, “Wasn’t Rin with us?”

Jack nodded, rolling his eyes as he said, “He probably found something else to do on his way here. As often as he disappears, we can’t really afford to worry about him.” Jack’s smile returned as he leaned down. “Okay, so one of the fun parts of my job includes changing the leaves.”

Onna’s eyes widened, “You change the leaves?”

“I help. Nature usually handles the majority of the work, but trees like this guy,” he tapped the side of the oak with his staff, sending frost spirals over the bark, “sometimes don’t change. Now watch this.” He positioned the staff over the branch between them, which was still full with green leaves that hadn’t dried and fallen to the ground just yet. Tapping the branch lightly with his staff, a thin layer of frost spread slowly up the length of the branch. Instead of freezing the leaves, however, the frost stopped at the stem and the leaves began to shrink. Onna watched as the frost on the stem suffocated the leaf and turned the green to a more earthen, autumn color. Once the shriveling process was complete, one by one the leaves began their descent to the ground. “See?” Jack said.

Onna grinned widely. “Can I try?”

“Knock yourself out!” he answered cheerfully.

Turning to a branch beside her, she slipped one of her gloves off. Her bare hand hovered over the branch as she grew nervous. She didn’t want to completely freeze the branch. She didn’t want her ice to spread too quickly for the leaves to undergo the change. After much hesitation, she placed a tentative finger on the branch, removing it quickly as her ice began to seep from the area where she’d touched. She watched as the ice reached for each stem of each leaf, the cold stopping at the stem. While the leaves did start to change, most didn’t reach the point in which they could break free and fall to the ground. “It’s not the same,” she uttered.

“But this is your first try. A good try, too!” Jack leaped to a higher branch, then. “Practice makes perfect, and there are a lot of trees here. Wanna keep going?”

Onna’s grin returned. “Yeah!”

“Alright. Keep count, though. The one with the most changed branches wins.” At that, their race began.



Sophie Bennett was walking home alone from school. The block wasn’t too busy. Usually Jamie would be walking with her, but he was off in search of colleges this week. That counted as an excuse to skip school, apparently. Too bad she couldn’t go with him. She’d have liked to go with him. Instead, she had to walk to and from school by herself.

Brushing her hair from her eyes, she caught sight of a group of older boys she didn’t recognize. Oh wait. She took that back. She did know them; they always seemed to be waiting for her and her brother to walk by after school. They enjoyed picking on them. And she had to face them alone, today. Thanks Jamie, she thought. She really shouldn’t blame him, though.

Clutching her books closer, she pretended they were small shields against incoming arrows. Walking faster, she hoped she could get past them without being noticed. Her wish was not granted. Just as she was about to pass them by, one sidestepped directly into her path of travel and stopped her. “Well lookie here, guys,” he leered.

The other two boys stood on either side of their comrade. Sophie clung to her books tighter, feeling herself begin to shake. She said nothing, hoping they left her alone if she stayed quiet.

“Hey, aren’t you that freak’s little sister?” one asked.

Sophie’s resolve had never been anything to brag about. In fact, Jamie had often lectured her on managing her temper. He’d always told her not to worry about what people said about him. But she did. And these bullies had just insulted him. “He’s not a freak!” she shouted.

“Not a freak?” the third said. The three boys laughed. “He still believes in Santa Claus, for God’s sake! He still believes in the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. How is he not a freak?”

“You forgot the Sandman,” the first boy added.

“And let’s not forget, the Boogeyman! Ooooh!” They all started making spooky noises and making what they perceived as scary faces at her. She didn’t even flinch. She just glared.

Because unlike these idiots, she’d stared right at the Boogeyman and screamed at him. “Your impressions are wrong,” she said without thinking. “The Boogeyman would never stoop to scare a kid. He uses his height to his advantage.”

They looked at her for a moment, then burst into laughter. Sophie rolled her eyes. Great job opening your big mouth, she thought to herself. One of the boys actually managed to stop laughing long enough to point at her and say, “We’ve got another believer on our hands!”

“Oh, how terrifying! The Boogeyman is sure to get us now!” They began quivering in mock fear. She resisted the urge to facepalm. I hope he gives you all nightmares, she managed not to say aloud.

The boys’ gazes turned malicious, then. They began advancing on her. Her eyes widened as she took a few steps back, unsure of what to expect from them. When one reached forward and grabbed her books, she wasn’t prepared. She screamed, panicking as they yanked her school materials from her arms. They tossed the textbooks in a puddle at their feet, now holding only her notebooks and her . . . .

Her diary. They had her diary.

“No! Don’t!” she cried, running for them. One of the boys grabbed her by the waist and held her back. She kicked and shouted, begging them to let her go without doing any more damage.

“What is it, little freak?” the one holding the notebooks and diary asked as he looked through each spiral. Then he came to the diary. His eyes widened with sick pleasure. “A journal!” He tossed the other notebooks on the wet sidewalk with her textbooks, opening the diary. Her heart hammered. “Let’s see what secrets you have hidden in here, little freak.”

“Leave me alone! Please just give me my stuff and leave me alone!” she pleaded. There was no one. Not a single person who would stop and help her. She glimpsed one person, and he was leaning up against one of the brick buildings nonchalantly.

No one was going to help her. She was fighting back frustrated tears now. These boys were too big for her to fight. She couldn’t get away, and Jamie wasn’t here to save her.

“Who’s Rin?” the boy reading her journal asked.

She barely had time to register the question before one of the boys added, “Probably her imaginary boyfriend.”

“Seems right! Says here he’s a scary bastard.” The boy read her entry, “‘Rin’s going to get in trouble if he keeps icing over the roads in Burgess. Jack isn’t very happy with him right now.’” He closed the diary. “See you got yourself a bad boy, little freak.”

Sophie glared. Leaping at the opportunity they’d presented to her, she said, “Yeah, and he’ll be really angry if he finds out you’re bugging me. Let me go and I won’t tell him.”

The boys laughed at her again. “What are you, seven?” the one holding her back asked.

“I’m ten!” she shouted.

“Either way, I doubt you’re delinquent boyfriend will do anything to help you. Who’d lift a finger to help a freak?” The bullies shoved her to the ground, dropping the diary in the stagnant water in front of her. Her hands and knees burned from having hit the concrete so hard. As they walked away, tears fell freely from her eyes. Gathering up her books, she did her best to dry them on her jacket and quell her quiet sobs. Glaring up at them as they walked triumphantly down the block, she caught a glimpse of the man leaning up against the wall. He was standing upright and walking towards her, now, hands hidden in the pockets of his black jacket. She was certain the bullies were going to bump into him, shove him back against the wall.

Then she saw his bare, clawed feet. The bullies walked straight through him.

Looking up at his hooded face, she couldn’t help but grin at his razor smile. “Hey baby girl,” he whispered. Then he placed a finger over his mouth, indicating that she should be quiet. Pulling his rod from the inside of his jacket, he turned back to the boys. They hadn’t gotten far, but for Rin distance was irrelevant. He slid the end of his rod across the width of the sidewalk, and Sophie watched as dark frost chased after the three bullies. In a matter of seconds, they’d slipped and landed on their backs.

Sophie couldn’t control her laughter. She even covered her mouth in an attempt to hide it, but her efforts were futile. Soon, Rin was laughing with her.

And the bullies heard her. “What are you laughing at, freak?” one shouted. They struggled to get on their feet, but the ice was too slippery. Still, she gathered her books and stood, ready to run as soon as they were up.

“Hand,” Rin said, holding out his. She didn’t hesitate in giving him hers. As soon as their fingers were locked, he said, “Now run.” She did, following him as they raced towards the bullies. She didn’t know what Rin was planning, but she trusted him. As they neared the bullies, she realized that they were running on ice as if it were just regular surface with traction. She smiled at Rin’s back as he pulled her along. The boys started to reach for her as she ran past, but they were still slipping on black ice. Once by them, Rin shouted, “Right turn!” and she was being pulled down a dark alley. “Drop your books.”

“What?” she asked, surprised at the order.

“They’ll end up under your bed,” he offered. While still running, she obeyed. Her textbooks, notebooks, and journal all disappeared in the darkness, freeing her arms. They didn’t stop running until they reached the end of the alley.

“Get back here you little freak!” she heard one of the bullies shout.

“Are they coming?” she asked Rin.

“Let’s not find out,” he said. She squealed as his arms circled her waist and suddenly, she was falling through darkness. She closed her eyes, unsure of where Rin was taking her.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in the lair of the Nightmare King. Sighing in relief, she turned around to hug Rin. “Thank you,” she murmured.

He hugged her close. “Anytime baby girl. Heard your bro was out of town and decided to keep an eye on you.”

“Good thing, too,” she said, pulling away.

“Anything for my girlfriend.” He grinned wider as she punched him. “Hey, you agreed to it.”

“You’re not my boyfriend,” she told him. Sizing him up, she said, “You’re too tall.”

He put a hand over his heart, acting offended. “Are you telling me you used me?” His grin made her smile wider. “I can’t help that I’m an early bloomer!”

“You’re gonna end up taller than Jack!”

“Let us hope so. That’ll be awesome.” His gaze turned serious. “Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you too much, did they?”

She shook her head, ignoring how her knees and palms burned. “I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

She smiled at his question. Her feelings were hurt. She was embarrassed. But she would get by. “I will be fine.” She smirked at him, changing the subject. “Why bring me here? Why not send me home?”

“A) I haven’t seen you in a while. You’ve grown a lot! B) You’re gonna give Pitch the names of those three goons.”

She raised her eyebrows and folded her arms. “Oh, am I?”

“You know you wanna,” Rin said, pulling down his hood and winking at her.

She flashed her own teeth as she grinned, though they weren’t as sharp as Rin’s. “Won’t that upset Jack?”

Rin scratched his head, his hair growing more tangled as he did so. His eyes widened as he remembered something. “They didn’t even mention that Jamie believed in Jack Frost. Therefore, we can assume they don’t believe in him.” He held his hands up victoriously. “They’re free game for the Nightmare Man.”

Sophie laughed at him. He was right. “Alright, I’ll tell the old Boogeyman. But don’t tell Jamie.”

Rin leaned on his rod. “Wouldn’t dream of such a thing.”



Sophie Bennett wasn’t officially a member of their family, but she was as close a cousin or sister as Onna to Rin. What more, the Boogeyman had a soft spot for the human girl. For these reasons, those bullies would regret ever having made the young girl feel low. 

When Jack and Onna returned, Sophie had already gone home. Rin had made sure she was in better shape than she was when he found her. He couldn’t stand the way Sophie was feeling after being called a freak. As Jack and Onna settled back into the lair, Jack asked where Rin had gone. Pitch stepped in and said the Fearling had been working with him. When Onna and Jack were out of earshot, Pitch winked at Rin. “Our secret,” he whispered.

“He still gets upset at your Nightmares?” Rin asked.

“That, and it’s better to ruin a few nights of good rest for the bullies than set a blizzard on them.”

“Now _that_ sounds tempting!”

Pitch shook his head. “Our secret,” he reiterated.

Rin nodded, grinning. “Sure thing, Nightmare Man.”

**Author's Note:**

> Got questions for characters and myself? Ask on twofacedpsycho.tumblr.com
> 
> Got questions for Rin, Onna, and Sera? Ask on ask-boogies-kids.tumblr.com
> 
> Wanna chat it up over tea? My Skype is ab2fsycho
> 
> I will be transferring works to fanfiction.net soon, just to give people more opportunities to read them. Nothing should change here on AO3 though.
> 
> EDIT: In a stunning turn of events, I learned I am not allowed to post my things on fanfiction.net. The more you know.


End file.
